1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic assembly including a die having an integrated circuit thereon which generates heat when being operated, its construction and materials for cooling.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Integrated circuits are manufactured on semiconductor wafers which are subsequently sawed or xe2x80x9cdicedxe2x80x9d into individual dice. Such a die may have solder bump contacts on the integrated circuit. The solder bump contacts are located downward onto contact pads of a package substrate. Electronic signals can be provided through the solder bump contacts to and from the integrated circuit.
Operation of the integrated circuit causes heating thereof. Heat is conducted to an upper surface of such the die and has to be conducted or convected away to maintain the temperature of the integrated circuit below a predetermined level for purposes maintaining functional integrity of the integrated circuit.
A heat spreader is usually located above the die and thermally coupled to the die by means of a thermal interface material such as thermally conductive grease. The thermally conductive grease transfers minimal stresses from the heat spreader to the die due to differences of thermal expansion between the thermal heat spreader and the die, but has a relatively low thermal conductivity and thus provides a substantial thermal barrier for heat transferring from the die to the heat spreader.